A devious but miraculous journey back to America

Last year, an article from this corner tackled the issue of prolonged absences from the United States of certain US permanent residents (green card holders).

As noted previously, an absence from the US of one year or more without a valid reentry permit can lead to the loss of one’s permanent resident status.

In fact, even an overseas trip of less than one year, if more than six months in duration and preceded by multiple foreign travels of notable frequency, can trigger a red flag and invite stringent scrutiny from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Also discussed was the option of obtaining a Returning Resident (SB-1) visa if a green card holder exceeded the one-year foreign travel limit or the maximum two-year overseas stay allowance with a reentry permit.

Expanding on the topic, what would happen if due to time constraints, financial limitations, or sheer ignorance, a US green card holder is not able to obtain an SB-1 visa prior to traveling back to the US after an impermissibly lengthy absence?

Perhaps another option, or shall we say miracle, may present itself in the most unexpected of places.

Let’s follow the hypothetical journey of Amormio Maticas, a 60-year-old US permanent resident from the Philippines, who decided to fly back home to Manila in March 2020 to rekindle a romantic relationship with an old flame.

Before leaving for the Philippines, he applied for a reentry permit so he could stay outside the US for up to two years. However, for some unknown reason, his reentry permit application was not processed properly by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and he didn’t hear back from the agency after his initial submission.

While Mr. Maticas was in the Philippines, a global pandemic ensued resulting in widespread travel restrictions, forcing him to remain in the country way beyond his original two-year plan.

It was only recently, after he realized that his old flame was double-timing him with an 80-year-old American gigolo — aside from the fact that his meager savings as a part-time Las Vegas male pole dancer was almost gone — that he found the motivation to pack up his bags and fly back to the US.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a reentry permit on hand, nor was he aware of the SB-1 visa option.

Out of desperation, he decided to fly back to the US via the island of Guam, an American territory in the Western Pacific, packing lightly in case he was turned away.

To his surprise, after initially questioning his four-year green card overstay in Manila and his lack of a reentry permit or SB-1 visa, a kind-hearted CBP supervisor at the airport advised him to submit an impromptu DHS Form I-693 waiver application, after which he was allowed entry as a Returning Resident under a seldom used 211(b) waiver provision in the Code of Federal Regulations.

So extremely happy and thrilled was Mr. Maticas with the CBP’s decision that he performed a quick pole dance number on the spot.

Needless to say, this official act of mercy was the exception rather than the rule under the current immigration climate in the US.

And yet a reentry waiver story that loosely mirrors this fictional narrative recently happened in Guam — for real.